The European External Action Service

The service supporting the foreign and external policy of the European Union will start soon. (The target date is 1 December 2010) It will be called European External Action Service (EEAS). Many Norwegians ask me the question: will the EEAS be the foreign ministry of the EU? Usually there is no short and/or simple answer to similar questions, because EU moves are by nature complex or for the reason that they are novel. Most frequently they are both at the same time. (Therefore not the best topics for short blogs)

The EEAS is a prime example. It is groundbreaking; nothing alike has existed before. Preparations were difficult and took a long time. EEAS staff will come from two EU institutions (the Commission and the Council) as well as from the diplomatic services of the 27 Member States. They will work under the High Representative of the EU, who at the same time is also Vice President of the European Commission. The 135 EU Delegations around the world (including the one in Oslo) will be part and parcel of the new service. The EEAS is designed to become a tool to establish better the EU as a global player both in its immediate neighbourhood and in faraway regions.

The effort is the first in its kind and it is obviously a fascinating story to follow. But the jury is out, it will be judged by its performance and you might have your own opinion on this.

Going skiing

I have just had a very pleasant visit to Mr Fabian Stang, the Mayor of Oslo. He explained to me the present state of affairs in this capital city and spoke about plans of development. He also asked me kindly how I felt here, whether Oslo treated me well. As many Norwegians, he inquired about my progress in skiing.

These are not just diplomatic questions. These are very important issues and in the hustle of everyday life we do not give enough thought to them. Writer Aron Tamasi says somewhere that our most human urge is to be at home in life.

I responded to Mr Stang that after one year I had arrived to enjoying living in Oslo and appreciating very much that I am close to nature and among a lot of good partners and friends. Not even the fact that we have November darkness looming on the horizon can take this feeling away. All the more, at the urging of my wife I have agreed that this weekend we go to buy ski equipment. She has discovered a shop with very good prices.

Bergen

I spent the day of 24 September in Bergen, together with European Commissioner Janez Potocnik, responsible for environment, attending the Ministerial Meeting of OSPAR. OSPAR is the mechanism to implement the Oslo and the Paris Conventions, adopted to protect the marine environment in the North-East Atlantic.

At the morning, before the conference we had a good meeting with Minister Erik Solheim in his hotel room. It was good to witness how well the Minister and the Commissioner understood each other, both having clear and rather similar ideas on how to make ongoing worldwide environmental efforts succeed.

On a more personal note: I enjoyed to be in Bergen and stayed over for part of the weekend, together with my wife. The town was splendid, washed in the autumn sunshine and (for the first time) we had enough time to explore the beauty of the old houses close to the centre. We went shopping at the famous fish market. People even offered to us whale meet to taste, which of course was for us one step too far. But will go definitely back – both officially and in private capacity.